Ivory Markets of Europe is the fourth and
perhaps most startling in a series of regional
reports on the elephant tusk ivory trade produced
by geographer Esmond Martin and anthropologist
Daniel Stiles since 2000.
Martin and Stiles began by looking at Africa, where most ivory originates.
They found that ivory artifacts are still
readily available at leading tourist
destinations, despite the 1989 ivory trade
moratorium imposed by the United Nations
Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species. The source of most of the ivory still
available in Africa appears to be elephant
poaching.

Harry Rowsell, 84, died on February 3, 2006. From 1968
to 1992 Rowsell served as founding director of the Canadian Council
of Animal Care, formed to supervise animal welfare in laboratories.
He also served as a member of the Scientists Center for Animal
Welfare board of trustees, 1983-1986. The SCAW Rowsell Award is
named in his honor. A veterinary pathlogist, Rowsell witnessed the
Atlantic Canada seal hunt in 1973, as a member of the Canadian
Ministry of Fisheries’ Seals & Sealing Committee. “It’s a hell of a
thing,” he testified afterward. “Stop telling people to write
letters to Canada and Norway,” Rowsell advised activists. “Tell
them instead to start a worldwide campaign against wearing fur.”
Rowsell “brought many reforms to Canada on animal experimentation,
and on the use of animals in education. He was a great friend of
[Animal Welfare Institute founder] Christine Stevens, and a major
influence on me,” In The Name of Science author Barbara Orlans told
ANIMAL PEOPLE.

Rule #1 for headline writers is that brevity is the soul of wit.
Rule #2 is, “Never use a word that your readers will not
instantly recognize.”
Bad titling unfairly handicaps Why The Tail-Docking Of Dogs
Should Be Prohibited, which would be both more succinct and
grammatically correct without either “the” or “of.”
Bad titling outright sabotages Cephalopods & Decapod
Crustaceans: Their Capacity To Experience Pain & Suffering.
If you know what a cephalopod is, raise a tentacle. If you
know what “decapod crustaceans” are, raise a claw.
At 16 and 20 letter-sized pages, respectively, these new
Advocates for Animals handbooks are exactly what activists need when
urging lawmakers to ban tail-docking, or are speaking up for octopi,
squid, crabs, lobsters, and crayfish.

Have you ever wondered how a veterinarian
feels when a someone rushes in with an animal and
screams for help, then expects an instant and
accurate diagnosis without giving any relevant
patient history?
Veterinarian Shannon Fujimoto Nakaya
emphasizes that, “Making health decisions on
behalf of our animal companion begins with
noticing when things are differentŠ” She lists
questions that should be asked of a vet when
seeking a diagnosis. She notes that it is not
unreasonable to ask your vet to explain things in
terms that you understand, and also not
unreasonable to get a second opinion.

An irony of the H5N1 global epidemic is that many of the
youngest human victims are those with the most positive attitudes
toward poultry–like Sumeyya Makuk of Van, Turkey.
“Sumeyya Mamuk considered the chickens in her yard to be
beloved pets. The 8-year-old girl fed them, petted them, and took
care of them,” wrote Benjamin Harvey of Associated Press. “When
they started to get sick and die, she hugged them and tenderly
kissed them goodbye.
“The chickens were sick. One had puffed up and she touched
it. We told her not to. She loved chickens a lot,” said her
father, Abdulkerim Mamuk. “She held them in her arms.”
Continued Harvey, “Her oldest brother Sadun said Sumeyya
loved animals and took care of puppies and kittens.
When her mother saw Sumeyya holding one of the dying
chickens, she yelled at her and hit the girl to get her away.
Sumeyya began to cry. She wiped her tears with the hand she’d been
using to comfort the dying chicken,” and fell ill herself.
Prompt treatment at the Van 100th Year Hospital saved Sumeyya
Mamuk, Harvey reported.

The heavily publicized Yellow-stone region wolf wars have
parallels in the upper Midwest, the one part of the Lower 48 states
where wolves were never killed out.
After wolves gained Endangered Species Act protection in
1974, the Wisconsin wolf population continued to struggle for a
decade, but now has increased to as many as 455, a fourfold
increase in 10 years, coinciding with abundant deer and falling
numbers of human deer hunters.
Wolves in the upper Midwest in April 2003 were federally
downlisted from “endangered” to “threatened,” but the “endangered”
status was judicially restored in January 2005. In the interim,
the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources killed 70 alleged
“problem” wolves.
Humane Society of the U.S. conservation consultant Karlyn
Atkinson Berg told Lee Berquist of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in
February that Wisconsin wolf numbers warrant downlisting.
“Unfortunately,” Berg said, “the history of wolves is that
if a wolf kills one sheep, then people want to kill 100 wolves.” she
said. Farmers, Berg observed, are “never required to exercise good
husbandry,” to prevent predation on unattended animals.
There are now about 405 wolves on the Michigan Upper
Peninsula, say state biologists, who believe the Michigan
population has reached the carrying capacity of the habitat.

CHICAGO–“Between 2000 and 2005, Illinois residents filed
3,282 complaints about animal welfare licensees to the state
Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Welfare,” wrote Chicago
Tribune staff reporter John Biemer on February 14, citing
information obtained by activist Cherie Travis. The Bureau of Animal
Welfare supervises pet stores, shelters, pounds, and breeding and
boarding kennels.
“Just three of the 3,282 cases resulted in hearings,” Biemer
continued, “and each time those actions were deemed unwarranted.
Further,” Biemer noted, “Illinois has just seven investigators to
check into complaints and make annual visits to the premises of 1,809
licensees.”
Said American SPCA representive Ledy VanKavage, “There’s no
way in hell that just seven people can deal with that kind of
caseload.”
Added Biemer, “When they find a licensee is not complying
with state law, they have only two punitive options: they can
either revoke or suspend the license. Those actions create a big
problem: what do you do with the animals?”
A bill introduced by state representative Patti Bellock
(R-Hinsdale) would enable the Bureau of Animal Welfare to levy fines
ranging from $200 to $1,000 for violations not deemed severe enough
to warrant license revocation or suspension.

The California Office of the Attorney General on February 14
ordered Wildlife Waystation founder Martine Colette to reimburse the
Waystation $64,128 for the care of her personal horses.
“Colette can deduct that amount from $140,000 the Waystation
owes her from personal loans she made when the sanctuary was in
financial trouble,” wrote Los Angeles Daily News staff writer Kerry
Cavanaugh.
“Also,” Cavanaugh said, “the Attorney General’s Office
ordered the Waystation to correct information on its web site that
said the refuge employs two part-time veterinarians, when in fact
the Waystation has two vet techs.”
The orders concluded a three-year audit of the Waystation by
the Charitable Trust Division of the California Department of Justice.

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